By modulation of neurotransmitter release (including dopamine, norepinephrine, acetylcholine and serotonin) from different brain regions, acetylcholine receptors are involved in the modulation of neuroendocrine function, respiration, mood, motor control and function, focus and attention, concentration, memory and cognition, and the mechanisms of substance abuse. Ligands for acetylcholine receptors have been demonstrated to have effects on attention, cognition, appetite, substance abuse, memory, extrapyramidal function, cardiovascular function, pain and gastrointestinal motility and function. The distribution of acetylcholine receptors that bind nicotine, i.e., nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, is widespread in the brain, including the basal ganglia, limbic system, cerebral cortex and mid- and hind-brain nuclei. In the periphery, the distribution includes muscle, autonomic ganglia, the gastrointestinal tract and the cardiovascular system.
Acetylcholine receptors have been shown to be decreased, inter alia, in the brains of patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease, diseases associated with dementia, motor dysfunction and cognitive impairment. Such correlations between acetylcholine receptors and nervous system disorders suggest that compounds that modulate acetylcholine receptors will have beneficial therapeutic effects for many human nervous system disorders. Thus, there is a continuing need for compounds which can selectively modulate the activity of acetylcholine receptors. In response to such need, the present invention provides a new family of compounds which modulate acetylcholine receptors.